The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is a 2000 action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo, released for Nintendo 64, GameCube (The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition), Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D).  Serving as the sixth main installment in The Legend of Zelda series and the plot is set in Termina where the Skull Kid who has stolen a powerful ancient artifact known as Majora’s Mask, and under its influence, causes the land’s moon to slowly fall towards Termina, where it crashes after three days.  Link travels back in time to the beginning of the three days to find a way to stop the moon from destroying the world.

Positives:

• Fun gameplay
• Great soundtrack
• Great campaign
• Great characters
• Interesting story
• Tons of replayability
• Big open world

Negatives:

• Dated graphics
• Lack of voice performances

Campaign:  The campaign is pretty extensive and features a really compelling story as well as a fun gameplay experience. The story follows Link in the land of Termina as he searches for his friend Navi while trying to stop the mysterious Skull Kid who has summoned a moon that will destroy the land in three days under the influence of a powerful ancient artifact known as Majora’s Mask. The story does have complexity and facts about the story, world, and characters do gradually unravel.  There are a lot of the fan favorites when it comes to the characters many returning from the previous installment as well as some new ones. The Skull Kid is a pretty interesting antagonist though the story does not flush out the character’s origins. (4 out of 5)

Gameplay:  All together the gameplay is fun and does run smoothly. There aren’t any game crashes or game freezes even considering the level transitions. Combat can be challenging depending on the enemy type, weapons in possession, and which transformation Link has. The world is pretty big and does allow for a ton of exploration especially when considering certain areas being blocked off and require a certain item, equipment, or weapon to access. Boss battles are definitely intense and the variety of weapons and masks do allow for some very interesting and very entertaining combat scenarios. The game does feature a three day cycle which rewind to the first day after the third day or at a player’s given choice so missions that are failed can be played again. (4 out of 5)

Graphics: Visually the game does have that The Legend of Zelda Nintendo 64 look to it. It does look just like Ocarina of Time and doesn’t really bring anything new. However, compared to today’s standards is a bit dated.  There are a lot of great creature designs that look really cool.  The various level designs look great and definitely set the tone for the game. (2 out of 5)

Score: Great score.  The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and definitely captures The Legend of Zelda field that players have come to love from the series. The Termina Field theme is great and definitely hearkens back to the original series. The sound effects are on point and definitely give depth to the world. One of the worst aspects of the game is the lack of voice performances and at this point there should’ve been some. (4 out of 5)

Replay Value:  There is definitely a lot to be appreciated when it comes to the replay value. One of the most if not the most pronounced feature of the game are the various mask with various effects. Not only does putting on the different masks give Link different abilities but also how he affects the world and how others see and react with him. Temples can be replayed over and over and over once beaten allowing players to not only explore new areas but also utilizing the mask to have a different playthrough experience. Also the three-day cycle that rewinds is a great way of allowing players to continuously explore the world finding new treasures and achieving new goals or even redoing some of the mistakes made during the initial playthrough. There are a ton of different side stories and various side missions which players track using the Bomber’s Notebook. Of course there’s finding the various heart pieces as well as the skulltulas. (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is a fantastic game and a great sequel. Despite the graphics which are dated as well as the lack of voice performances. Despite this the campaign is quite extensive as well as enjoyable, a lot of great characters, a fun gameplay experience, a complex story, fantastic soundtrack, and a ton of replayability. This is definitely a game for the fans of the series especially Ocarina of Time. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask get 4 out of 5.